Card RPG online for free: a hero, a deck and real players

“Card RPG” covers a lot of very different games. In some you spend years building a collection from packs, in others every run starts from scratch, and in others the deck is simply how a hero’s abilities are shown. Let’s look at the kinds of online card RPGs, what matters when you choose one, and how Zarhold’s card RPG works — a deck that grows with your hero, set in a whole world with real players.

Three kinds of card games with an RPG layer

1. Collectible card games (CCGs). You build your deck from a collection that grows through packs. A lot of your strength depends on which cards you’ve opened.
2. Roguelike deckbuilders. Every run starts with a small deck, you add cards along the way, and when you lose you start over. There’s little hero progression between runs.
3. Card RPGs. You have a persistent hero who grows — level, gear, abilities. The cards are their abilities, and the deck changes as the hero does.

Zarhold is the third kind, at MMORPG scale: your hero lives in a shared world with other players, runs dungeons, trades and fights in the arena. For the bigger picture, see Card MMORPGs: what they are.

A deck you don’t have to buy

The key difference from collectible games: in Zarhold you don’t build your deck from packs.

• Every class has 20–24 cards of its own, all available from level 1.
• Talents add 3–6 more cards — they sit in your deck while the talent is learned in your active spec.
• A deck never has fewer than 30 cards: the gap is filled with copies of your own cards, cheapest first, with at most four of the same card.
• There are a few special cards outside the classes — earned through major achievements and the battle pass, each added as a single copy.

So your deck is your class plus your talent choices. You change it by rebuilding your talents — and respecs are always free. Details in the knowledge base: The deck.

How a turn plays

• You start a fight with 6 cards in hand and can swap the ones you don’t want before the first turn.
• Cards cost crystals: 1 on your first turn, one more each turn after that, up to 10. Whatever you don’t spend is lost.
• Once per turn you can use your Class Power for 1 crystal, and you have a racial ability too.
• From your 10th turn you draw 2 cards instead of one — “Heat of Battle”, so late turns never stall.

Cards are strikes, single-target and area spells, heals, shields, buffs, effects that tick over several turns, and control such as stuns. There are no minions on the board: every card is your hero’s ability, and across from you is an enemy, a boss with its minions, or another player. Every card of every class is in the Spellbook.

The RPG part: your hero grows, not your deck

In a collectible game, power is your cards. In Zarhold’s card RPG, power is your hero:

• level from 1 to 60 and talents — three trees per class, 51 points by level 60;
• gear with item level, which gives you Health, Power (the strength of your cards) and defence;
• stats are honest and free of luck — there are no critical hits, so every number is predictable.

A card’s base numbers don’t grow with level: all your growth comes through Power from gear and talents. So a card you play at level 10 hits much harder at 60 — because you grew. Details: Hero stats.

Where to take your deck

• The open world — 26 lands from level 1 to 60 and 312 quests.
• Dungeons for three and raids for five — fights on a shared board where everyone has a role: tank, healer or damage dealer.
• The arena from 1v1 to 5v5, a battleground and duels — your deck against a real player’s deck.

Against creatures, played cards are shuffled back into your deck; in PvP your deck doesn’t refill, and running out means fatigue damage. That keeps fights against players from dragging on forever.

Who Zarhold’s card RPG is for

• Players who like thinking about each move rather than mashing buttons.
• Players tired of buying packs just to compete.
• Players who want to play with friends: parties of up to five heroes, guilds, chat and trading.
• Players who want one hero on phone and PC — the game runs in the browser.

Online card RPG: FAQ

Do I need to buy cards or packs?

No. Your deck is made of your class and talent cards, available without buying anything. A few special cards come from major achievements and the battle pass.

Can I build my own deck card by card?

Not card by card. Talents change your deck: some add new cards, others strengthen existing ones. From level 20 you can keep two specialisations, each with its own deck.

Is it good for players who’ve never played card games?

Yes. The tutorial walks you through your first fights, and the rules are simple: crystals, cards and one goal — bring your opponent’s Health to zero.

Is it free?

Yes. You can create a hero and play without paying and without downloading anything — right in your browser.

The bottom line

If you want a card game where strength comes from your decisions and your hero’s growth rather than from the packs you bought, try a card RPG in MMORPG form. Create a hero, pick a class and look at its deck in your very first fight. And if you’re coming from collectible card games, you’ll enjoy Games like Hearthstone, but an MMORPG.